Diversity

By Rev. Ricardo Riqueza

Diversity. What is diversity? My diversity experience has been part of my ministry from the start. My experience with Clinical Pastoral Education at the San Francisco Night Ministry and my Teaching Parish in Berkeley, both in  California, taught me a lot about diversity. In San Francisco, I witness that the disease of addiction and mental health affects all regardless of their race and economic status. The “outcast” in the streets of San Francisco became “invisible” to the vast majority of members of our society. The homeless population that I met was diverse in races but had a common denominator that was most of them felt ostracized by society in general.

Diversity in ministry was an eye-opener for me. I was born and raised in Brazil near Sao Paulo, I grew up as a white person, I never had to face the racism and prejudice that the black Brazilian have to face in their everyday life. As a South American, in the United States, my journey was filled with diversity, and I am thankful to God that I was loved in each of the settings that I served in ministry from California, Arizona, Pennsylvania to Nebraska regardless of my race and language background. The love that I received in my ministry is the love that I want others to experience.

For instance, despite my congregation in Berkeley being predominantly white, I was moved by the commitment of that congregation to social justice and fight against racism and homophobia in the heart of Berkeley, California. The congregation there is a sanctuary congregation, I learned not only about racial diversity as a congregation given a safe haven for immigrants fearing deportation but also about gender diversity as a congregation, which advocates for the LGBT community.

My diversity journey continued, as I went to my internship in Phoenix, Arizona in a congregation, where the vast majority of the members are from Mexico and a lot of them undocumented, most of the members did not speak English and had to deal with systematic racism in their everyday lives. In all honesty, I was hurt by the way white America treated people that come from Mexico to do the work that white America does not want to do. My experience in Phoenix left a bitter taste in my mouth towards those with closed minds and hearts.

I was so thankful for my work in Pennsylvania because, in the recovery ministry, I found common ground. I learned that the disease of addiction has no prejudice, it affects all races and all economic classes. It does not matter what race and economic status, the disease of addiction is ready to destroy the individual family and their loved ones that have to witness the destruction that addiction leaves behind to All who fall into its grasp.

Finally, I came to rural Nebraska in a predominantly white church and I am learning there is so much more to white America. A place that people are loving and welcoming, a place that people are hardworking and treat all with dignity. A place, which is teaching me what white America is about. A place not racially diverse but that follows God’s command to love others as themselves.

 Diversity takes many shapes and forms and is not limited to race. I believe we can be sensitive to diversity even if we live in a racially homogenous place. We can educate ourselves about diversity. And as long as we see all people regardless of their race or sexual orientation as all God’s creatures and as our brothers and sisters in Christ, I believe that we will be doing what God wants us to do, which is to love our neighbor as ourselves.